2 . After my cancer diagnosis (诊断), my friend gifted me a lucky bamboo plant in a deep-green pottery bowl. Despite my physical limitations, _________ the green plant became an achievement during a time when I felt _________.

As a family physician I was used to _________ care, now I was the one relying on others. The _________ change left me feeling unsettled. Watering the plant, as small an act as it was, _________ me to my old identity and taught me I could still be a caregiver and be _________.

Through surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy (化疗), I _________ looking after the plant, and it thrived (茁壮成长), so did I.

But before long, _________, it began to show signs of stress. No matter what I did, the _________ kept browning and dropping to the __________, which made me frustrated and uneasy. I seemingly related its struggle to my own health, fearing it __________ the return of my tumor (肿瘤).

As my anxiety eased, I __________ guidance online to figure out how to better take care of the poor little thing. Following the __________ found, I transplanted it to a larger pot, allowing more room and nutrients it required. When it returned to the sunny window, we both began to thrive again!

Now, the lucky bamboo was not just a __________ item in my home but a representation of life, and the ability to find __________ even in challenging circumstances.

3 . “Tom, you have a hairless spot on the back of your head!”Mom’s alarmed cry hit me like a shock.

I tried to shrug (耸肩) it off. “It’ll grow back. ”I worked to sound ________.

At first, the loss was minimal. ________the spot with my fingers became the top priority every day. No new hair, smooth as an egg. Weeks later, the spot was a little larger, and there was still no_________of any hair becoming visible through the skin. I began to________, but continued to try to be cool about it.

As days went by, my hair started to fall faster and more. ________ my fingers through it, I would stare at the alarming quantity of hair in my hands, willing this to ________ happening to me.

We went to see a doctor, who diagnosed my condition as alopecia (脱发症) . He recommended an injection ( 注 射 ) to try, which would be ________ to the head skin. I underwent several costly injections over a few months, but in vain.

________, the injection began to trouble my sleep, and we finally had to stop the __. My hair still didn’t grow back.

I had to wear a wig ( 假 发 ) to school every day, worried it might slip one day and that everything would________. Though aware that I should ________the fact to my friends, I was scared, not knowing how they would handle the information. ________, hesitantly, I told them what was happening after days of struggle. To my surprise, they all thought nothing of it. This was a(n) ________ for me.

I came to realize that what had happened was not my fault, and not something I should feel________of. I am learning that being bald doesn’t change who I am, and if I don’t let it affect myself ________ , then other people are much more likely to accept me as I am, too.

4 . Martin is my youngest son. He likes staying alone and be seldom laughs. As the boy’s mother, I was _______ about him. I took him to see the _______ in many hospitals, but it didn’t work well.

Nothing could make him happy except the recycling truck passing by my house. Every afternoon, he raced to the front of the house, waiting for the _______.

When we were late and _______ the truck, Martin would be very disappointed. One day, I stopped the truck and _______ myself.

“Nice to meet you, too. I’m Vince.” The driver greeted me in a happy _______.

“Your coming is the most exciting moment for my son.” I smiled.

After knowing our story, he said, “Could you please give me your _______ number? Maybe I can send you a message _______ I arrive.”

Then began our _______ with Vince.

Recently, I said to him, “It’s my little boy’s birthday tomorrow. Can you do something special for him?”

The next day, as I was standing by the driveway with Martin, we saw the ________ truck running down the street with a loud beep. Like a superman in a movie, Vince stopped and walked towards us with a box in his hand.

“Today is your birthday, Martin, and here’s a gift.”

He handed the box to my son. Inside, there was a green model truck like his. My son, surprised, looked up ________ and thanked him.

After chatting for several ________, he was about to leave for work. I tried to give him some ________ for his help. He kept shaking his head and ________ my money, saying, “Today you, tomorrow me.”

I was deeply moved by these ________ words. And I have been ready to help others whenever I can. You will never know when you’re going to be the one that needs help.

6 . “I just think, a year ago, at 54 years of age, I couldn’t swim. I was terrified at the thought of going into the water. Now, I have just _________ my 200 meters. It is all thanks to Everyday Swim.”

It’s never too late to learn swimming. Angela King, 55, is a perfect _________ of it. In August 2020, the family went to an attraction they hadn’t _________ for 15 years. Angela thought, “All this time, I still can’t swim. When I get back home tomorrow, I’m going to find out more about swimming _________.”

In the cold light of day, she felt a little _________, but her husband David searched the Internet for swimming classes. He found Everyday Swim at the local Hadleigh pool and _________ Angela to sign up. When she turned up for her first training, she said, “I felt a bit sick and _________, but this soon passed. The instructor really put me at ease; so did the other people in the class.”

As the lessons _________, she learned to become more _________ in the water. At first, it was a simple __________ of learning she wasn’t going to sink. Then during the third lesson, the Olympic gold medal winner Duncan Goodhew turned up to offer __________ “I couldn’t believe it. He held my hand and we all held hands in a circle and splashed under the water. What he did made me believe that I could __________.”

When the 10 lessons for £ 100 offer finished at the pool, she __________ to sign up for lessons. In fact, from originally being __________ of the water, Angela is now becoming a regular swimmer and __________ some certificates (证书) along the way

7 . I often read of incidents of misunderstanding or conflict. I’m left _______. Why do these people create mistrust and problems, especially with those from other_______?

I was growing up in Kuala Lumpur in the early 1960s, when children from different races and religions played and studied together _______. At that time my family lived a stone’s _______ from Ismail’s. And no one was bothered that Ismail was a Malay Muslim and I was an Indian Hindu—we just _______ our differences. Perhaps, our elders had not filled our heads with unnecessary advice, well _______ or otherwise. We were nine when we became friends. During the school holidays, we’d explore the countryside on our bicycles, hoping to _______ the unexpected. At times Ismail would accompany my family as we made a rare shopping trip to town. We would be glad of his _______. When I was twelve, my family moved to Johor. Ismail’s family later returned to their village, and I lost touch with him.

One spring afternoon in 1983, I stopped a taxi in Kuala Lumpur. When I _______ my destination, the driver acknowledged my ________ but did not move off. Instead, he looked fixedly at me. “Raddar?” he said, using my childhood nickname. I was astonished at being so ________ addressed. Unexpectedly! It was Ismail! Even after two ________ we still recognized each other. Grasping his shoulder, I felt a true ________, something hard to describe.

If we can allow our children to be themselves without prejudice, they’ll build friendships with people ________ race or religion, who will be ________ their side through thick and thin. On such friendships are societies built and then we can truly be, as William Shakespeare once wrote, “We happy few. We band of brothers”.

8 . The world itself us becoming much smaller by using modern traffic and modern communication means (通讯设备). _________ today is much easier than it was hundreds of years ago, but it has brought new _________. One of the biggest is pollution. To pollute means to make things dirty. Pollution comes in many ways. We see it, _________ it, drink it and even hear it.

Man has been polluting the earth. The _________ people, the more pollution. Many years ago, the pollution was not so serious _________ there were not so many people. When the land was used up or the river was dirty in one place, man _________ to another place. But this is no longer true. Man is now slowly polluting the whole world.

Air pollution is now the most serious. It’s _________ for all living things in the world, but it is not the only one kind of pollution. Water pollution _________ our fish and pollutes our drinking water. Noise pollution makes us become _________ more easily.

Many countries are making rules to fight pollution. They __________ people from burning coal (煤) in houses and factories in the city, and from putting dirty __________ into the air.

Pollution by SO2 is now the most __________ kind of air pollution. It is caused by heavy traffic. It is true that if there are fewer people __________, there will be less air pollution.

The earth is our home. We must take care of it. That means __________ the land, water and air clean. And we must take care of the __________ in population at the same time.

10 . A gentle wind blew through Jennifer’s hair. The golden red sun was _______. She was on the beach, looking up at the ball. She was amazed by its _______, deep red in the middle, _______ fading into yellow. She could hear nothing but the waves and the seagulls flying up above in the sky.

The atmosphere _______ her. After all she had been through, this is what she needed. “It’s getting late,” she thought, “I must go home. My parents will be _______ where I am.” She wanted to know how her parents would react when she got home after the three days she was _______.

The sun had set by now and it was getting _______. She _______ having her favorite jacket on until she saw the front door. It seemed different. _______ had taken care of the outside garden for days. She was ________: her father was usually so strict about keeping everything clean and tidy, and now... It all seemed ________. She couldn’t understand what was going on.

She entered the ________. First, she went into the kitchen where she saw a note written by her father. It said, “Dear Ellen, there is some coffee ready. I went looking.” Ellen was her mother but where was she? On the right side of the hallway was her ________ room. She went in. Then she saw her mother, lying on the bed sleeping. Her face looked so tired, as if she hadn’t ________ for days. She was really pale. Jennifer just fell asleep beside her. When Jennifer woke up she found something ________. She was in her cozy bed in her nightclothes.

It felt so good being back home. Suddenly she heard a voice. “Are you feeling better now, dear? You know you got us very, very scared.”